1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention is related to monitoring temperature distributions in the petroleum industry and, in particular, to the use of magnetostrictive probe technology for obtaining distributed temperature measurements of materials in pipelines or other flow members.
2. Description of the Related Art
In petroleum engineering, fluids such as hydrocarbons, petroleum, oil etc. are extracted from a reservoir in the earth. Once at the surface, the fluid is generally transported to a selected location through a flow member such as an above-ground pipeline, a seabed pipeline, a riser, a flowline, or a pipe or conduit at a refinery, liquid natural gas factory or other manufacturing facility. Fluid temperature is an important parameter controlling fluid flow through the flow member. For example, wax formation, hydrate formation or other changes in chemical composition can occur within the fluid at certain temperatures, thereby affecting the flow rate, flow profile, etc. Current methods of obtaining temperature measurements at a flow member tend to measure temperature at only one location. However, a temperature measurement at a single location of the flow member is generally inadequate when attempting to monitor and/or control flow of fluids in the flow member. Attempts to implement single temperature measurements at multiple locations along a flow member can be costly. Thus, there is a need to provide cost-effective methods for obtaining temperature measurements at multiple locations along pipelines or flow members.